| 1. |
- Schael, S, et al.
(author)
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Precision electroweak measurements on the Z resonance
- 2006
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In: Physics Reports. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-1573 .- 1873-6270. ; 427:5-6, s. 257-454
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report on the final electroweak measurements performed with data taken at the Z resonance by the experiments operating at the electron-positron colliders SLC and LEP. The data consist of 17 million Z decays accumulated by the ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL experiments at LEP, and 600 thousand Z decays by the SLID experiment using a polarised beam at SLC. The measurements include cross-sections, forward-backward asymmetries and polarised asymmetries. The mass and width of the Z boson, m(Z) and Gamma(Z), and its couplings to fermions, for example the p parameter and the effective electroweak mixing angle for leptons, are precisely measured: m(Z) = 91.1875 +/- 0.0021 GeV, Gamma(Z) = 2.4952 +/- 0.0023 GeV, rho(l) = 1.0050 +/- 0.0010, sin(2)theta(eff)(lept) = 0.23153 +/- 0.00016. The number of light neutrino species is determined to be 2.9840 +/- 0.0082, in agreement with the three observed generations of fundamental fermions. The results are compared to the predictions of the Standard Model (SM). At the Z-pole, electroweak radiative corrections beyond the running of the QED and QCD coupling constants are observed with a significance of five standard deviations, and in agreement with the Standard Model. Of the many Z-pole measurements, the forward-backward asymmetry in b-quark production shows the largest difference with respect to its SM expectation, at the level of 2.8 standard deviations. Through radiative corrections evaluated in the framework of the Standard Model, the Z-pole data are also used to predict the mass of the top quark, m(t) = 173(+10)(+13) GeV, and the mass of the W boson, m(W) = 80.363 +/- 0.032 GeV. These indirect constraints are compared to the direct measurements, providing a stringent test of the SM. Using in addition the direct measurements of m(t) and m(W), the mass of the as yet unobserved SM Higgs boson is predicted with a relative uncertainty of about 50% and found to be less than 285 GeV at 95% confidence level. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Wild, W., et al.
(author)
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Millimetron—a large Russian-European submillimeter space observatory
- 2009
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In: Experimental Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 23:1, s. 221-244
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Millimetron is a Russian-led 12 m diameter submillimeter and far-infrared space observatory which is included in the Space Plan of the Russian Federation for launch around 2017. With its large collecting area and state-of-the-art receivers, it will enable unique science and allow at least one order of magnitude improvement with respect to the Herschel Space Observatory. Millimetron will be operated in two basic observing modes: as a single-dish observatory, and as an element of a ground-space very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) system. As single-dish, angular resolutions on the order of 3 to 12 arc sec will be achieved and spectral resolutions of up to a million employing heterodyne techniques. As VLBI antenna, the chosen elliptical orbit will provide extremely large VLBI baselines (beyond 300,000 km) resulting in micro-arc second angular resolution.
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| 4. |
- Klionsky, Daniel J., et al.
(author)
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Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy in higher eukaryotes
- 2008
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In: Autophagy. - : Landes Bioscience. - 1554-8627 .- 1554-8635. ; 4:2, s. 151-175
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Research in autophagy continues to accelerate,1 and as a result many new scientists are entering the field. Accordingly, it is important to establish a standard set of criteria for monitoring macroautophagy in different organisms. Recent reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose.2,3 There are many useful and convenient methods that can be used to monitor macroautophagy in yeast, but relatively few in other model systems, and there is much confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure macroautophagy in higher eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers of autophagosomes versus those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway; thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from fully functional autophagy that includes delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of the methods that can be used by investigators who are attempting to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as by reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that investigate these processes. This set of guidelines is not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to verify an autophagic response.
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| 5. |
- van de Sande-Bruinsma, Nienke, et al.
(author)
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Antimicrobial drug use and resistance in Europe
- 2008
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In: Emerging Infectious Diseases. - : Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). - 1080-6040 .- 1080-6059. ; 14:11, s. 1722-30
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Our study confronts the use of antimicrobial agents in ambulatory care with the resistance trends of 2 major pathogens, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Escherichia coli, in 21 European countries in 2000-2005 and explores whether the notion that antimicrobial drug use determines resistance can be supported by surveillance data at national aggregation levels. The data obtained from the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption and the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System suggest that variation of consumption coincides with the occurrence of resistance at the country level. Linear regression analysis showed that the association between antimicrobial drug use and resistance was specific and robust for 2 of 3 compound pathogen combinations, stable over time, but not sensitive enough to explain all of the observed variations. Ecologic studies based on routine surveillance data indicate a relation between use and resistance and support interventions designed to reduce antimicrobial drug consumption at a national level in Europe.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Trines, R. M. G. M., et al.
(author)
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Applications of the wave kinetic approach : from laser wakefields to drift wave turbulence
- 2009
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In: Physics of Plasmas. - : AIP Publishing. - 1070-664X .- 1089-7674. ; 16:5, s. 055904-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nonlinear wave-driven processes in plasmas are normally described by either a monochromatic pump wave that couples to other monochromatic waves or as a random phase wave coupling to other random phase waves. An alternative approach involves a random or broadband pump coupling to monochromatic and/or coherent structures in the plasma. This approach can be implemented through the wave kinetic model. In this model, the incoming pump wave is described by either a bunch (for coherent waves) or a sea (for random phase waves) of quasiparticles. This approach has been applied to both photon acceleration in laser wakefields and drift wave turbulence in magnetized plasma edge configurations. Numerical simulations have been compared to experiments, varying from photon acceleration to drift mode-zonal flow turbulence, and good qualitative correspondences have been found in all cases.
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| 9. |
- Henkel, C., et al.
(author)
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The density, the cosmic microwave background, and the proton-to-electron mass ratio in a cloud at redshift 0.9
- 2009
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 500:2, s. 725-734
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Based on measurements with the Effelsberg 100-m telescope, a multi-line study of molecular species is presented toward the gravitational lens system PKS 1830-211, which is by far the best known target to study dense cool gas in absorption at intermediate redshift. Determining average radial velocities and performing Large Velocity Gradient radiative transfer calculations, the aims of this study are (1) to determine the density of the gas, (2) to constrain the temperature of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), and (3) to evaluate the proton-to-electron mass ratio at redshift z ˜ 0.89. Analyzing data from six rotational HC3N transitions (this includes the J=7≤ftarrow6 line, which is likely detected for the first time in the interstellar medium) we obtain n(H2) ~ 2600 cm-3 for the gas density of the south-western absorption component, assuming a background source covering factor, which is independent of frequency. With a possibly more realistic frequency dependence proportional to ν0.5 (the maximal exponent permitted by observational boundary conditions), n(H2) ~ 1700 cm-3. Again toward the south-western source, excitation temperatures of molecular species with optically thin lines and higher rotational constants are, on average, consistent with the expected temperature of the cosmic microwave background, T_CMB = 5.14 K. However, individually, there is a surprisingly large scatter which far surpasses expected uncertainties. A comparison of CS J =1 ≤ftarrow0 and 4≤ftarrow3 optical depths toward the weaker north-western absorption component results in T_ex = 11 K and a 1-σ error of 3 K. For the main component, a comparison of velocities determined from ten optically thin NH3 inversion lines with those from five optically thin rotational transitions of HC3N, observed at similar frequencies, constrains potential variations of the proton-to-electron mass ratio μ to Δμ / μ
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| 10. |
- Aldenius, Maria, et al.
(author)
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Accurate laboratory ultraviolet wavelengths for quasar absorption-line constraints on varying fundamental constants
- 2006
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In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1365-2966 .- 0035-8711. ; 370:1, s. 444-452
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The most precise method of investigating possible space-time variations of the fine-structure constant, alpha equivalent to (1/hc)(e(2)/4 pi epsilon(0)), using high-redshift quasar absorption lines is the many-multiplet (MM) method. For reliable results this method requires very accurate relative laboratory wavelengths for a number of UV resonance transitions from several different ionic species. For this purpose laboratory wavelengths and wavenumbers of 23 UV lines from Mg I, Mg II, Ti II, Cr II, Mn II, Fe II and Zn II have been measured using high-resolution Fourier transform (FT) spectrometry. The spectra of the different ions (except for one Fe II line, one Mg I line and the Ti II lines) are all measured simultaneously in the same FT spectrometry recording by using a composite hollow cathode as a light source. This decreases the relative uncertainties of all the wavelengths. In addition to any measurement uncertainty, the wavelength uncertainty is determined by that of the Ar II calibration lines, by possible pressure shifts and by illumination effects. The absolute wavenumbers have uncertainties of typically +/- 0.001 -+/- 0.002 cm(-1) (Delta lambda approximate to 0.06-0.1 m angstrom at 2500 angstrom), while the relative wavenumbers for strong, symmetric lines in the same spectral recording have uncertainties of +/- 0.0005 cm(-1) (Delta lambda approximate to 0.03 m angstrom at 2500 angstrom) or better, depending mostly on uncertainties in the line-fitting procedure. This high relative precision greatly reduces the potential for systematic effects in the MM method, while the new Ti II measurements now allow these transitions to be used in MM analyses.
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